Laura Mason
Name: Laura Mason Gender: Female Age: 18 School: Whittree Secondary School Hobbies and Interests: Reading, fishing, classic films, ichthyology, baseball, Appearance: Laura is 5’8” and weighs around 150 pounds. Her body is toned and slightly tanned from being out in the sun all the time. Lithe muscle covers her legs due to playing baseball for the past several years. Her face is rather angular with narrow cheekbones, with one small mole above and to the left of her right eye. Long dirty blond hair flows down past her shoulders and onto her back, curling at the bottom. Full lips are pronounced due to her choice of bold red lipstick, behind which hide a full set of teeth that are slightly yellowed and stained, yet in good condition and well-maintained. Her eyebrows are very thick and significantly darker than her hair, which draws attention to her eyes. Said eyes are small and round in shape and are a muddy green in colour. Laura has been meant to wear glasses for the past few years but neglects them, feeling that they do not suit her. Due to this, her eyes can often start watering and becoming squinty if put under sufficient strain. In everyday life, Laura prioritises comfort above style. When at home, she prefers to just wear simple T-shirts and clothes made for jogging, most of the time forsaking shoes and socks for her bare feet. However, while at school she is a little more concerned about her appearance, tending to wear jeans instead of jogging clothes, often wearing trainers and her favourite article of clothing, a comfortable brown coat covered in pockets that she thinks of as her “fishing coat.” When SOTF-TV started she was wearing black socks under a pair of white trainers, a small red shirt with a V-shaped neckline under her “fishing coat” and a pair of dark blue denim jeans. Biography: The second daughter of Dr Marcus Mason and Mrs Angela Mason, from birth Laura was raised in a happy and safe household. Her mother’s job as a film critic and her father’s job as a surgeon allowed the family more than enough money to live comfortably on. As well as this, her mother’s flexible hours allowed her to stay at home with Laura for the first few years of her life until she began to attend school. Laura’s relationship with her sister Karen was good as well as once she started school she began to idolise her older sister. Karen was four years older than Laura and a highly intelligent student who was extremely dedicated and diligent when it came to academics, always trying her hardest in every single subject. She was a person who would never be content unless she had achieved the highest grade possible. While Laura tried to mimic this zeal her sister had, she quickly discovered that while in subjects she was interested in she would push hard for good grades, when it came to subjects she found less tolerable she wouldn’t mind merely passing. Laura’s favourite subjects are Geography and Biology and while the first is something she enjoys but has to work hard in order to pass, Biology is something she both enjoys and is good at. Likewise, she has a natural talent at other sciences such as Physics and also has a knack for Maths, although she does not particularly enjoy these and does as little work as possible in them, relying mostly on her natural talent to get her through. Laura is not very skilled in History as she has trouble remembering dates, but her worst subjects are probably Art or Music, with some trouble in English as well. To her, a painting or a song doesn’t have any deeper meaning beyond being coloured lines or vibrations in the air, which also hinders her in English as while she can point out various literary and linguistic techniques and understands how they are used, she has little caring for why they are used. Laura’s life changed when there was a new addition in the Mason household. When she was seven years old, her mother had a baby boy that they named Toby. It was around this time that she began to feel ignored and unloved; whereas her sister was praised often for her academic exploits and the new baby obviously had to be given much of the attention in the household, she felt like she had nothing. It was about this time that she began acting out in school slightly, but always subtly, in order to not let her parents know due to the fact that she was slightly afraid that if they found out they would not love her. She learned how to lie and how to manipulate, always over small things, getting other students to do things and then acting innocent when the act was found out. This might have continued for a while if her mother hadn’t noticed the change in personality and correctly assumed what the cause was. Deciding that she needed to spend more time with her daughter, she invited her to watch films with her, classic films from another era. This plan worked better than expected. Laura quickly became a fan of classic cinema, eventually getting to the point where she often sat alone in the bedroom she shared with her sister with a few choice picks from her mother’s collection. She quickly began forming her own personal tastes about films. While her mother preferred slower and more realistic films, Laura was all about excitement. The gunslingers from the Wild West, far off planets in outer space or dripping horrors and murderers who attacked slutty teens, they all amazed her. It was around this time that she began looking for something to make her own, something that she could do to make her parents proud. Eventually she decided upon joining the baseball team. Although she wasn’t a star player, she enjoys it and works hard in practise, showing up the grand majority of time as she finds the sport enjoyable and knows that it keeps her fit and healthy. While she isn’t as passionate about it as she once was, she still goes to baseball mainly because it’s part of her schedule and it fills time. Her mother used to support her by showing up to all of her matches but eventually stopped, by which time Laura really didn’t care anymore, as she had got over her attention issues for the most part. Laura didn’t find her true passion until she was thirteen. While on holiday with her family visiting her uncle Mark, he took all three children and his brother out fishing for the day. Although her siblings and father found it a tedious activity, Laura loved the tranquillity of fishing and the idea of catching, preparing and then eating your own food intrigued her, as she had never really been taught how to cook beyond a microwave. Her uncle, delighted to have his niece take such interest in his hobby, taught her all that he could in a few short days; how to clean and gut the fish, his opinions on various types of bait and other miscellaneous facts. Before she returned home, he also gave her her own fishing rod and his old fishing jacket, both of which are items that Laura treasures and endeavours to take good care of. Laura is an avid fisher whenever her schedule permits; fishing is an activity she enjoys and one that allows her to multitask, so she often takes a book with her to read while out fishing. Her interest in fishing eventually expands outwards into an interest of fish in general, so she began often taking books on ichthyology out with her. It was a mixture of reading about exotic fish and interacting with more mundane fish such as trout on a regular basis that helped her decide that she would like to continue down that path, becoming either some sort of marine biologist or ichthyologist, or alternatively working in some sort of fishery. After Karen left for a prestigious university, Laura tried to connect with her little brother but found quickly that they shared different interests for the most part. One of the activities they discovered that they could do together was watching SOTF-TV. However, while they both watch it and often watch it together, their reasons for doing so are wildly different. Toby watches it for the action, the sex and the violence and the excitement and thinks of it as the ultimate blood sport where the prize of fame and glory come with the threat of death. Laura instead sees it as just a show. A show worth watching, an exciting and noteworthy show that she can talk about with people, but unlike her brother who has wholeheartedly embraced the concept, Laura tends to not think about SOTF-TV unless it’s brought up. While she does watch the show, she is not really a dedicated fan, as the main reason she watches it are to bond with her brother, because it’s popular and simply because it’s what’s on. Laura does not think about the reality of SOTF-TV, as the idea is simply too disturbing for her to spend time dwelling on. Advantages: Laura is a fairly fit person; her years of softball have left her fairly strong and fast, and has some experience in hitting moving objects due to decent hand-eye coordination. In addition, her time spent fishing have moulded her into a patient person who is used to not moving too much for hours at a time. Her experience in preparing fish could potentially come in useful. She is fairly familiar with SOTF-TV, which may help her in making plans. Apart from this, she is fairly determined, as seen in her dedication to her activities. Disadvantages: While Laura is dedicated, part of that is due to sheer stubbornness and a unwillingness to give up even when that would be the smarter option. She has never been seriously injured or in a physical confrontation with another. Despite her years of baseball, her physical endurance is low due to her being more used to periods of intense activity rather than prolonged exercise. Laura has a need to be given attention and appreciation for her skills and she may lash out at people if she feels she is not being appreciated. Designated Number: Honey Badgers 5 (HB5). ---- Designated Weapon: Haribo Sugarless Gummy Bears, 5-Pound Bag Mentor Comment: "Well hey, look at this one! Somebody who actually has a shot on this team. She'll probably die first." Evaluations Handled By: 'Impereld, Mini_HELP '''Kills: '''None '''Killed By: 'Shadi Williams 'Collected Weapons: '''Haribo Sugarless Gummy Bears, 5-Pound Bag (designated weapon) '''Allies: 'Aidan Adelman, Lucia del Pirlo, Shadi Williams 'Enemies: 'Gene Steward, Shadi Williams 'Mid-game Evaluation: ' Laura awoke in the casino, and quickly became distraught upon realizing she had not been assigned any sort of real weapon. At the same time, she steeled herself, vowing that she would not die easily. She soon heard Aidan Adelman call out, asking for the unknown he'd heard to reveal themselves; Laura, trying to hide her fear, did so. Laura and Aidan made their introductions, but were interrupted by another voice, calling out and claiming to be Laura's mentor, explaining that she had been given the wrong weapon and that she was to report to the beach for a new one. This was shot down incredibly quickly by Laura's actual mentor, and Aidan (who was using his assigned set of team bandannas to pretend to be on Laura's team) quickly caught and subdued the culprit, Gene Steward. The pair interrogated Gene, who claimed he had simply been trying to get them out of the building so he could safely leave himself. Unconvinced, Aidan ordered Laura to search Gene's bag and take anything that might be useful to them, leaving the boy half of his food and medical supplies. Laura complied. Afterwards, they sent Gene on his way, departing themselves soon afterwards. The pair next came to a stop at the sports centre, having heard the first announcement along the way. Aidan led the way, and soon found himself confronted by two killers from the first day, Leah Bissard and Lucia del Pirlo. Aidan tried to calm the girls down and broker a ceasefire, while Laura waited in the wings as support. Unfortunately, Leah spooked Lucia, who shot her. This prompted Laura to demand an explanation, but Aidan, trying to keep the violence from escalating, passed it off as an accident. Aidan, however, actually thought that Lucia was too far gone, and tried to warn Laura to leave. Laura refused, unwilling to part with her supposed teammate. Laura and Aidan insisted that there might be a hope for escape, and in so doing were able to at least temporarily pacify Lucia. The group cleaned themselves up and prepared to move on, with the second announcement's revelation of further killers, including Gene, adding some urgency. The group went to the aqua museum, but a chaotic and violent reunion with Gene that cost the life of Aidan's friend Will Brackenrig proved too much for Laura, who panicked and at some point quietly slipped away and fled. Afterwards, she fell in with Shadi Williams, who was going by the fake name "Clarissa." The pair traveled together for a time, ending up in the less-developed areas of the resort. While Laura did not fully trust Shadi, she did not realize the immediacy of the danger she was in. Shadi, hearing gunfire, decided to try to upgrade her weaponry, planning to dispatch Laura first. She distracted Laura by pointing out an inconsequential rustling in the bushes nearby; when Laura's attention was briefly drawn in that direction, Shadi bludgeoned the girl in the back of the head with her shillelagh, fatally crushing Laura's skull. 'Post-Game Evaluation: ' '''Memorable Quotes: *''"Can't look scared. Gotta look the part."'' - Laura hypes herself up to face the unknown *''"So, anything you wanna say for yourself?"'' - Laura expresses her disappointment in Gene Steward's dishonesty *''"Why'd you do it? Why'd you shoot her? What the hell'd you shoot her for?"'' - Laura demands answers from Lucia del Pirlo over her shooting of Leah Bissard *''"We've got a plan. And it wouldn't be the first time it happened. Once we get out of here we're done. We escape, we get popular, they have no choice but to let us live."'' - Laura explains her plan for escape Other/Trivia Threads Below is a list of threads that contain Laura, in chronological order Sandbox: *A Pleasure To Burn SOTF-TV: *Speechless *Gravity *Kill Your Heroes Your Thoughts Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Laura. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here! *Laura's a character who I think suffered most from just not really getting the chance to ground herself; what there is of her under her original handler is pretty good. She shared a scene in Sandbox with Vincent Holway, and acquitted herself well in the face of a somewhat unusual interaction with a somewhat difficult (though cool) character. Laura also displays a marked upwards trajectory in terms of quality, both in her Sandbox thread and as she moves into the game. Her first post after being tossed into TV is quite impressive for a new handler, and some of the little stylistic things I didn't dig in Laura's Sandbox (mostly a very heavy use of italicized thoughts) recede. Laura also gets some good play in her interactions with Gene and Aidan. She's perhaps slightly too easily thrown by Gene's deception, but that's made up for by the hints of strategic thinking and ruthlessness we see from her as she and Aidan claim some of his supplies in recompense. Unfortunately, after this, Laura slips into more of a background role, often hanging back and summarizing more than participating in scenes in her own right, largely due to declining activity. This leaves her a bit more of a sidekick for Aidan at a lot of points, which is too bad; in her best moments, Laura was a very capable co-star. Then she goes inactive and dies in the big purge. I'm going to briefly touch on this here instead of repeating it for the next dozen characters, but the large spike in mid-game inactivity had a very odd effect on TV2. Twelve characters (roughly 17% of the game) died in a row at the same time to various forms of inactivity, right at the version's halfway point, which caused the game to suddenly progress from early-mid-game to late-mid-game, jostling the arcs of many surviving characters along the way. Anyone left alive after the fourth announcement, and even a number of those listed in it, felt like one of the core cast members and long-term survivors of the version, even if in many cases they were still gearing up. It's not a bad thing or a good thing, and certainly not all or even mostly on Laura; this is more a musing about a rather unique element of the version that she presents an opportunity to explore. - MurderWeasel Category:SOTF-TV Category:Characters